Friends
by thepragmatist
Summary: Pirika ponders why Ren doesn't want to be friends with her anymore. RenPirika


**yilee:** random! i have no idea where this came from. there's alot of flashbacks in this one. it's basically all flashbacks XP But don't worry it sorta has plot..

He had done it again.

She didn't understand why.

Wasn't she always polite and nice to him?

Weren't they friends?

-----

Pirika was frustrated and confused. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even get a minute with Ren. He'd always brush her off like she didn't matter. Like she was insignificant. Which she probably was to him.

Pirika sighed.

What was she to him?

Was she really a nobody? Or was she at least a friend?

She thought she was a friend. They used to be friends, but for some reason, he began to distance himself from her, as if he didn't want to know her. Was he ashamed? Did he want a richer friend? A friend he could be proud of? Did he hate her? What was wrong with her?

She remembered the first sign that he was trying to get away from her.

She was only thirteen, and he had just turned fourteen. They had been friends, ever since they met at Yoh's party after the preliminaries of the Shaman Fight. Well at least as close as they could get to friends. Ren always tried to stay secluded. Unfortunately after meeting Yoh and the others, that was impossible.

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_Flashback _

"_Ren!" Pirika sat happily next to the stone cold Shaman that tensed immediately._

"_Are you enjoying the party?" Pirika asked._

_His only response was a grunt and a shift._

_Looking somewhat crestfallen, Pirika tried her best to look positive, though a vein throbbed angrily._

"_How are you?" She tried again lamely._

_This time he did answer, but it was the type of answer you give to you parents when they ask you how school was._

"_Tired. I'm going to bed." He stood and walked away, leaving a lonely Pirika sitting by herself on the steps._

_End flashback_

------

Pirika sat up from her bed and scowled. If he didn't want to be her friend, if he hated her. If he never wanted to see her again…

Couldn't he at least tell her?

That would be simple. He wouldn't be around her, and she won't be around him.

Pirika's shoulder's slumped.

It wasn't that simple.

She wouldn't be able to not be around him. As painful as it was to admit it, she liked being with him. She liked being his friend.

Why couldn't they go back to before. Before he strangely started to avoid her…

------

_Flashback_

_Pirika snickered softly as she sat down on her seat. Tamao had cooked an extremely appetizing meal, and everyone was concentrated on the delicious aroma that filled the room. Not one paid any attention to what day it was.._

_"REN! TIME FOR DINNER!" She screamed, being her voice was the loudest only second to HoroHoro, who was currently much too busy drooling over the food and the person who made them._

_"Shut up woman, I'm coming." Ren scowled as he walked into the dining room, shirtless. Pirika didn't blush. Ren was practically her brother. Her non-lazy, not obsessed with food, brother that is._

_Pirika grinned, as Ren sat down. A few seconds later, Ren shot up, out of his seat._

_"KISAMA!" He yelled angrily, his face flushing. Everyone turned toward him and all burst out laughing. Pirika, the hardest. She laughed so hard she had to arch forward and wrap her arms around her mid section. Her laugh echoed with the others._

_Around Ren's crotch area…was a wet spot._

_"Kisama! Who did this!" Ren glared angrily at everyone. His fiery gaze stopped on a smirking Pirika, who instantly put on a façade._

_"Who? Me?" She said innocently._

_"YOU! You're the one that put water on my seat!" Ren growled._

_"Now, now Ren. It's no use blaming others when you yourself make…accidents." At the word accidents, she and the others burst out laughing once more._

_"WOMAN!" Ren roared as he lunged for her. Still laughing, Pirika leaped up and out of his reach before sprinting away, an enraged Ren at her heels._

_End Flashback_

_(that actually happened to this guy in my class on April fools day XP)_

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Woman.

He always called her that.

He tried to make her seem like she was nothing but another girl.

But she knew he was her friend and she was his. Or so she thought.

Her confusion and annoyance turned into hurt and anger.

She thought she was his friend. She thought he thought of her as a little sister.

She thought he cared at least a little bit.

She thought he had more compassion than that.

Looking down sadly, she sighed. Perhaps she thought wrong…

------

_Flashback_

_"Ren?" Pirika wandered through the forest, searching for the Chinese shaman. She arrived upon a serene site._

_Ren sat by himself in a clearing under a large willow tree. Smiling widely, Pirika forgot about his recent coldness toward her._

_She snuck up on him and wrapped her arms around him. "Hi Ren!" Her smile was friendly and cheerful._

_He turned his face away from her and pushed her off of him. Still not looking at her, he spoke to her a raspy voice._

_"Don't do that!" He seemed to be scolding her like a parent. Like he wasn't her friend. Like he hated her. "Don't touch me!"_

_And with that he stalked away, back into the house._

_End Flashback_

-------

Suddenly Pirika rose to her feet.

What gave him the right to be this way? Who said he could be so heartless and rude, without so much as an explanation. For the past year practically, he had been avoiding her. When she went into one room, he conveniently went out. Whenever she tried to talk to him, he'd either ignore her, or give her a short and cold reply, before also getting away from her.

He didn't understand the rejection and disappointment she felt. He was a great friend, though he tried not to show it. Sometimes, the things he did, really let her believe that he cared. Now he didn't even want to look at her. Why was he suddenly so different?

Why couldn't he be like before? Not that he really changed, but just toward her.

-------

_Flashback_

_"Leave me alone!" Pirika glared at a bunch of boys._

_"C'mon Piri-chan. Just give me her phone number."_

_"Anna doesn't date scum!" Pirika retorted._

_"Then why's she with that Asakura?"_

_"Yoh's not scum!" Pirika felt her anger try to take control of her judgment._

_"That's what you think, your entire group is scum!" Another boy decided the nice routine wasn't working._

_"You should be grateful Toji here" The boy jutted a thumb toward a smirking boy. "…even wants to date that Kyouyama girl."_

**_SLAP_**

_Pirika growled at them dangerously. "Don't you dare insult Anna. You're all cowards. You'd never get the guts to talk to her. She'd slap the stupidity right out of you. You'd go home, like dogs with their tales in between their legs. You, all of you are pathetic!" She poured her rage and resent in one breath._

_"Why you bit-" The boys started to say, when a hand flew out and cut him off._

_Ren Tao was standing before their eyes. His hand wound tightly around their leader's neck. His blazing golden eyes threatening._

_"What was this I heard about Asakura's group being scum?" He said dangerously._

_The boys pleaded forgiveness, as Ren, one by one, beat them up. Well at least as much as he could before Pirika stopped him._

_End Flashback_

------

Pirika smiled fondly at the thought. When she still thought he cared. She walked out of her room.

She was determined to find answers from him. Even if he told her he hated her, then at least she would know, and she would no longer have to live on false hope.

Her feet padded softly as she walked over to his door. She knocked softly on the door, but she received to answer.

"Ren? We need to talk."

"Talk about what?" A cool voice appeared behind her. She turned around, to come face to face with Ren, who had just come out of the shower.

"Ren. Why have you been avoiding me?" Pirika skipped straight to the point, she felt her anger begin to boil up again, and she didn't want to explode at Ren.

"I haven't been avoiding you." Ren said softly, before nudging past her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go to bed."

He opened the door, but suddenly he was shoved forward into the room. Pirika shut the door behind them and faced Ren, crossing her arms expectantly.

"No you don't Ren. You can't escape me now. Tell me. Why have you been avoiding me?" Pirika demanded sternly.

But Ren was even more stubborn.

"I haven't been avoiding you! Why would I!"

"I don't know! You tell me!" Pirika stomped her foot angrily. She never thought he would actually be this stubborn. Actually, she did. That was just the way he was.

"You always try to leave the room, whenever I enter it, you try your hardest to never have a conversation with me, that has more than three words, and you won't even look at me anymore!"

Ren looked away, his eyes giving away his distress.

"I thought we were friends." Pirika whispered softly.

Ren's head snapped up and he looked at her.

"Tell me Ren." Pirika's eyes finally met Ren's. Hers filled with tears and his filled with an unknown emotion. "Why aren't we friends anymore? Tell me Ren. Why do you hate me?"

Remorse overwhelmed Ren. "I don't hate you."

"Yes you do!" Pirika was practically hysterical by now. "What happened Ren! Why can't we be friends like before! Ren what's wrong!"

Ren didn't answer. Frustrated, Pirika lunged at him and tackled him onto the bed. "Ren! Tell me what's wrong!" Ren began to struggle, in the end he flipped her so that he was on top.

"There's nothing wrong with me!" Ren's anguish had now taken the form of anger. "There's something wrong with you!"

Pirika saddened. "So you don't want to be friends anymore…"

"NO! I don't want to be friends. Not with you!"

Pirika felt her breath stop, and her heart shatter. "I-I understand" She tried to get up but Ren didn't hear and continued ranting. She shut her eyes, not wanting to hear anymore.

"Why do you have to be so nice! Why do you have to make me feel all hot and nervous! Why do you have to make me this way?" Ren yelled his agony. "You're the one that changed! Now I can't even be near you without feeling a stupid emotion. One I, the great Tao Ren don't even understand. You make me feel longing! I never had to feel this painful, miserable longing!"

Pirika was struck speechless.

"I try my best to ignore it! So we can be friends again. But I can't! It's all you fault! Why are you this way!" Ren was blinded by his tirade, to notice Pirika's hand snake up and cup his face softly. His eyes widened as he felt her cool hands against his hot flushed face. "Why…" He mumbled softly.

"Why…Why do you have to make me love you." Ren whispered, closing his eyes.

As Ren leaned in, Pirika's eyes softened. So that was it…

He didn't want to be friends

He wanted to be more.

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**A/N**: i actually like the ending to this one. Though it was just as random as the others. well anyway. **review** please. every** review** counts XP


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